Facing The Facts: The Hockey Gods Hate Denver

Wow, two years in a row this happens to poor old Avs fans like myself. Last year it started with Joe Sakic and Paul Stastny, then Ryan Smyth. This year it's already been Sakic and now Stastny. Do the Hockey Gods just hate Denver!?

The Colorado Avalanche got the news today that their star center in the making, Paul Stastny, would be out indefinitely with a broken fore arm. This news comes just two weeks after hearing that their legend Joe Sakic would be out for three months after a freak snow blower accident. Talk about some bad breaks.

But we can't rewind time or prevent injuries 100 percent, so I am not going to sit here and whine about all the injuries my team has suffered lately. Instead, I am going to break down what the team's options are and what path they may take.

The Avalanche have a few options

They could make a trade and bring in a top center, tank their season, and pray for Jonathan Tavares or rely on Tyler Arnason and T.J. Hensick to get the job done.

Option No. 1

Make a trade. To be honest, I think this is what the Avs should do, but with Francois Giguere as their GM (he isn't really big into the trade market), I doubt they will.

The team could look to bring in centers such as Chris Drury, who I've heard has been shopped around a little these last few weeks, but with Mats Sundin signing in Vancouver, I seriously doubt it.

A more realistic option would be Antoine Vermette. I've actually heard a lot of trade speculation around Vermette and don't doubt that Colorado may try to land him. But lets face it, even if they do get Vermette there's no way he can replace Sakic or Stastny.

Option No. 2

Tank the season. I think this is really a stupid decision and honestly don't know why I've put it on here, but it truthfully is realistic. The Avalanche will start to loose a lot of games (barring a trade or someone putting steroids in Arnason's Corn Flakes) here in these next few months.

In my book, if they come back after Christmas and start dropping games every night, they should go into a rebuilding mode and go after Tavares.

Option No. 3

Relying on Arnason and Hensick to get the job done. This is what the Avalanche, who lately like to rely on people within their own organization (Tony Granato), will most likely do. As much as they should try to make a trade, it will truly shock me if they do.

So if the team does decide to rely on Arnason, who has been pathetic all year, and Hensick (who will be good, but cannot carry his team just yet) chances are the Avalanche will be on the outside looking in come the postseason.

This promises to be an interesting next few weeks in Avalancheville, but rest assured all eyes are on Giguere to see how he handles this one.